Who killed the worm and other fungal pathogenesis insights

• The multi-host pathogenesis system entails using divergent hosts to study microbial pathogenesis. • Caenorhabditis elegans is being used to study established and to identify novel virulence determinants among many bacterial and fungal pathogens. • Fungi kill nematodes in many different ways - for example, Candida species adhere to nematode intestine, dissolve nematode tissues, and break through nematode cuticles by forming impressive networks of filaments; Drechmeria coniospora spores cause a localized infection by attaching to parts of the cuticle, and Cryptococcus neoformans (as well as Candida albicans on solid media) kill nematodes after being ingested without forming filaments. • C. elegans innate immunity pathways are involved in responding to fungi with some degree of specificity.